What kind of engineer team is needed in the new development stage
At present, my country has entered a new stage of development, and the importance of science and technology is constantly increasing.
In the new stage, what position should an engineer be in?
What role does it play?
What are the similarities and differences between the spirit of engineers, the spirit of scientists, and the spirit of craftsmen?
This is a question worthy of in-depth consideration and urgent to clarify——
The group of engineers was born in the industrial revolution
Engineering activities are the basic activities for human growth and progress, and the basic activities for the development of human society. The productivity characteristics of science and technology should be reflected through engineering activities.
In the early days of human society when modern science had not yet appeared and the technical level was still very low, people had already started to engage in various engineering activities and left some brilliant achievements.
For all kinds of projects of a certain scale, their leaders—the project idea proposers, planners, event organizers and conductors—are engineers in history.
Of course, engineers in history still lack the support of modern science and technology, and they are not able to master the level of modern scientific theories, nor do they have the attainments of various modern advanced technologies.
They just rely on their extraordinary talents, in the practice of hosting engineering activities, they are good at summing up experience and lessons, summarizing technical know-how, and finding out the key to success or failure.
From a historical point of view, they are brilliant stars, but they are also few and far between.
When human beings developed to the historical stage of using tools and then making tools, craftsmen appeared.
With the continuous progress of technology, the skills of craftsmen are also constantly improving. In different periods of history, master craftsmen have appeared in many regions. Mo Di, Lu Ban and others can be said to be both outstanding craftsmen and outstanding engineers.
In the industrial revolution that began in the 17th and 18th centuries, with the development and progress of technology, handicraft production, which was mainly based on individual producers, gradually developed into large-scale modern factories through handicraft workshops.
The number of products has increased, the scale of the enterprise has expanded, and the workforce has also expanded. The original craftsman's meticulous carving can no longer meet the needs.
The original knowledge of artisans was mainly tacit knowledge or tacit knowledge mastered by individual hands and brains, which needed to be spread among a large number of workers.
This is to transform the tacit knowledge in the human brain into explicit knowledge that can be expressed and recorded in writing for dissemination. To a certain extent, it is to raise practice to theory, or to find the basis for practice from existing theories. This is the process of combining theory with practice.
With the gradual deepening of this combination, a new group - the engineer group was formed.
This is a group of people who not only master certain scientific theoretical knowledge, but also can be proficient in practical operation and have engineering experience. They are from scientists who are interested in actual industrial production and craftsmen who have a good cultural foundation and are willing to learn and accept theoretical edification produced in the opposite direction.
Some people now believe that solving contemporary engineering problems requires a combination of the spirit of scientists and craftsmen, and requires the cooperation of these two groups.
It should be said that such a situation actually existed.
However, the author believes that using it in reality is a mistake in time and space. In the face of the modern engineer team that has been created and growing hundreds of years ago, it is necessary to apply the situation at that time to compare the current situation and even guide the current tasks. It is tantamount to carving a boat and seeking a sword, completely out of the background of the times.
The training of modern engineers should be through school education and exercise and grow in engineering practice
Generally speaking, engineers do not engage in pure scientific research work, and are inferior to scientists in the theoretical depth of pure science. They also do not have the skilled operation experience accumulated by professional workers in actual production labor, but they have more comprehensive engineering practice experience. , and understand and master the complete process and principle of real engineering activities.
Therefore, engineers face and deal with the entire production process from both theoretical and practical perspectives and their combination. They can choose appropriate materials, design reasonable processes, develop new products, and continuously improve products.
At the same time, they also know certain economic and management knowledge. They can understand their economic value when designing, implementing product development and production, grasp their market prospects, and have a substantial say in the creation and development of enterprises, and sometimes even decision-making power. .
At this time, the engineer has emerged from the identity of the original scientist and craftsman, and has become the leader of the project.
As mentioned above, the group of engineers is the product of the industrial revolution and an important part of the modern working class formed in the industrial revolution. In economic and social development, in the field of productive forces, they are the head of the working class and are responsible for the implementation of contemporary engineering. core power.
So, how to train engineers?
Modern engineers grow up mainly through school education and training in engineering practice.
During school, they learned basic scientific and engineering theoretical knowledge through classroom and self-study; through experiments and internships, they received basic technical and engineering practice training.
When they graduate, they are already the blanks of engineers who combine theory and practice. They can quickly become real engineers in actual engineering positions and take on the important task of engineering construction.
This means that the engineer itself embodies the combination of the spirit of the scientist and the spirit of the craftsman. Furthermore, cultivating engineers is the only feasible way to achieve this combination in contemporary society.
A large number of engineers are the backbone of industrial development
For a long time, the group of engineers has been faced with the dilemma of not having a high-ranking professional title. In some cases, the title of "professional-level senior engineer" is used instead. Compared with scientists and teachers, it is inevitable that they will have a dwarf in their occupation. suspected.
Fortunately, this matter has been basically resolved in recent years after repeated efforts.
But this is only one aspect. The issue of the social status of engineers has not been fully resolved - we rarely talk about the nature, status, and role of engineers, and no one seems to care about what engineers are needed to do at the social level.
There are two reasons for this: one is the problem of outlook on life and values, and the other is the problem of cognition.
In terms of outlook on life and values, the rapid economic development after the reform and opening up has made great progress, and at the same time, the idea of making quick money has emerged in the society.
Engineers who need to study hard, work steadily, and work hard as a profession do not seem to be favored by people.
In terms of cognition, there has always been a tradition of emphasizing Taoism over art in Chinese history, which is manifested in the field of science and technology.
In addition, there is another phenomenon that deserves our vigilance: as industrialization enters the middle and late stages, voices in the society chanting badly about industry and manufacturing keep emerging.
All these have led to a large shortage of labor sources for skilled workers, and their negative impact on my country's industrial development cannot be underestimated.
Back to the topic of engineers.
From a quantitative point of view, it is difficult for scientists to quantify accurately, but the number is not very large-scientific research needs a strong enough team, but it is not that the larger the team and the more people, the better.
Whether the size of the scientific research team is appropriate depends on the number of problems and the strength of financial support.
The engineering team is directly related to economic and industrial development. The larger the economic scale, the more people are needed.
At the same time, a considerable part of the development of modern science is also based on the progress of engineering. For example, space exploration and solving the mysteries of the universe must be based on aerospace and other engineering.
Therefore, the development of new technologies and new industries, the expansion of traditional industries, technological progress and iteration all require a large number of engineers and technicians with an ever-increasing scale.
From the perspective of talent team, graduates with a bachelor's degree or above in engineering are the main force and reserve army of engineers.
Engineering graduates in vocational education belong to the technical series after employment, and the technical series is also an integral part of the engineering series.
Therefore, engineers should be a huge team and the backbone of industrial development.
To sum up, in view of the extreme importance of engineering and engineers, it is necessary to vigorously improve the status of engineers, clearly explain their roles and characteristics, publicize their contributions in all aspects of national construction and development, and establish a sense of honor in the profession of engineers.
Distinctive engineer spirit
Some aspects of the engineer's spirit have something in common with the scientist's spirit and craftsman's spirit, such as patriotism, dedication, dedication, etc., but the engineer's spirit also has its own uniqueness.
The basic characteristic of an engineer is the combination of theory and practice, and the integration of technical knowledge and non-technical knowledge.
Therefore, what needs to be emphasized in the spirit of engineers is forging ahead, seeking truth, synergy, systematic thinking, and strict adherence to engineering ethics.
Endeavour is the main content of the engineer's spirit.
Engineers are the group responsible for the actual engineering, and the purpose of engineering is to create things, on the one hand, to create new things, things that were not there in the past.
Therefore, a large number of new problems must be solved, such as the acquisition and selection of raw materials, the research and development of processing methods and equipment, the organization of technological processes, and the design and production of products.
On the other hand, for existing products, how to ensure quality and quantity in mass production, including the establishment of various standards, the construction of technical foundations such as product testing and certification, and how to improve production efficiency, how to carry out product or construction Maintenance and so on.
There are old problems and new problems and opportunities everywhere.
As the core team of engineering activities, engineers have to solve various new problems, make various new products and new facilities that meet the needs of all aspects of society and improve people's living standards.
In addition, with the rapid progress of science and technology, people's requirements continue to increase, subject to the power and pressure of market competition, it is necessary to continuously develop and produce various new products, and improve the original products.
Through this process, engineers themselves are constantly advancing, so forging ahead is the primary content of the engineer's spirit.
Truth-seeking means telling the truth, doing practical things, and seeking real results.
To tell the truth, it is necessary to clarify what can be done or not, and to what extent it can be done. Don’t be bluffing or vain, and don’t take subjective wishes as objective truth.
To do practical things is to do useful things, not to engage in face projects or put on airs.
Talking about practical effect is to have real effect, don’t make up the numbers, the engineering effect is often not the best, but only the second best, try to do it as well as possible under realistic conditions, it is impossible to make many plans, and the final choice is only limited. The one in the plan that is considered better, and whether it is really better depends on the actual results.
Collaboration is to be good at cooperating with others and many people.
Engineering generally includes multiple aspects, involving multiple technical fields, as well as various aspects of resource mobilization, organization and management, etc., so it is generally a team work.
Large projects sometimes involve tens of thousands of people. Even the development of a small part involves all aspects of materials, processing, testing, and testing.
These people have different expertise, different knowledge, different personalities, different nature of work, and different ways of thinking about problems. To work smoothly, they must focus on common goals, find common language, and reach common opinions.
This is sometimes more difficult than purely technical research, which requires a high degree of synergy, and sometimes undue interference from personal fame and fortune must be excluded.
Systems thinking, a project no matter how big or small needs to have this kind of thinking.
When doing scientific research and scientific experiments, in order to verify a principle and concept, we often need to eliminate various interference factors, create an ideal environment, and make it as pure as possible.
However, the project is carried out in the actual environment, the influence of the environment cannot be excluded, and various factors must be considered.
At the technical level, it generally involves multiple professional fields, and the required conditions will involve various aspects such as human, financial, and material, so engineers must have systematic thinking.
Of course, engineers also have a division of labor. Most engineers are only responsible for a certain aspect of work, but in terms of thinking, they must consider the relationship between the work they are responsible for and other aspects, what aspects are affected, what requirements they have on others, and their own work. What aspects will the results affect, and how to do it will not cause obstacles to others... If you are responsible for one aspect, or work at a higher level, such as chief engineer, the scope of consideration is of course wider.
Strictly abide by engineering ethics means that engineering also has ethical norms, involving various aspects such as environment, interpersonal relationship, value, and trustworthiness.
Engineers must adhere to these specifications.
The point to be made here is that most engineers are not the owners of engineering activities, they are generally employees, but the nature of their work determines that they are often the easiest to understand the unethical issues in engineering activities, such as lowering standards, cutting corners, destroying the environment, concealing defects and many more.
At this time, as an engineer, you cannot blindly follow the instructions or wishes of your employer, nor blindly follow the subjective wishes of some government personnel. You must stand on a just stand, uphold the truth, uphold the dignity and honor of the profession and title of an engineer, and violate the law. Ethical phenomenon, which is clearly stipulated in the engineer code formulated by engineer organizations in some countries.
To sum up, on the journey of forging ahead to a modern and powerful country, we must continuously improve our understanding of the status and role of engineers, and we must propose to establish, publicize, and promote the spirit of engineers, and attract more young people to join the team of engineers, and work with other types of talents. Forge ahead towards the set goal.
(Author: Zhu Gaofeng, Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering, Senior Engineer)